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Using Google Voice with Republic Wireless
Work in progress... please contribute. Benefits of Google Voice *More short-code support than Republic Wireless *Free/cheap international calling *Send incoming calls to multiple phones at the same time. *Ring different phones at different times of day. *Custom voicemails for different numbers. *Call and text from your computer browser. *Searchable history of all calls and texts. Limitations of Google Voice *Little support for MMS (picture texts) and group texting. MMS messages to and from Verizon, AT&T and several other carriers are simply dropped with no warning to the user. *The platform is aging and rarely updated by Google, with no announced plans for the future. *Not all online companies will recognize your GV number - i.e. Facebook, Amazon. Using Your Google Voice Number for All Calls and Texts This section describes how to setup your Google Voice (GV) number as your main phone number, and never share your Republic Wireless (RW) number. You use the GV number for all incoming and outgoing calls as well as all incoming and outgoing texts. Reasons to do this: *Ease of changing phone service providers - no need to port a number. *No need to give people a separate number, always use Google Voice. *Better anti-spam filtering for calls and text than RW. Reasons to avoid this: *Porting Google Voice numbers to Republic Wireless is not yet fully supported. (Forward calls to RW, instead.) *Personal concerns about Google *$20 fee to port a number to Google Voice *Texting and placing calls via Google Voice require data and won't work on RW's $10 plan when away from Wi-Fi. 'How to do it:' 'Set up your Google Voice account' https://www.google.com/voice (Google Voice Help: http://support.google.com/voice/?hl=en) At the Google Voice web site, enter your RW number as a forwarding number: Gear icon drop down / Settings / Phones. Check the box labelled "Receive text messages on this phone" In Settings/Voicemail & Text, record your voicemail message as well as configure notifications for voicemail and texts. 'Set up your Republic Wireless Android Phone' Download the Google Voice app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.googlevoice Log in to the Google Voice app on your phone using your Google Account login. In the "Making Calls" settings menu, select "Use Google Voice to make all calls" (or whichever other configuration you prefer). Set up texting using your GV number on your RW phone. Two options are available: Using the default Android Messaging app, or using the Google Voice app. Most seem to prefer using the GV app and then ignoring (and removing the shortcut to) the default Messaging app. You can also disable notifications in the Messaging app settings. This keeps your SMS text messages and your transcribed voice mails all in one inbox. In the "Sync and notifications" setting menu, set the "Receive text messages" to "Via the Google Voice app" or "Via the messaging app". Install the home page widgets "Google Voice Inbox" and "Google Voice Settings". Putting these two widgets in a conspicuous spot on your home page will allow you to easily see your incoming messages (voice and text) as well as give you one touch access to composing new SMS text messages. Using Google Voice for Voicemail If you want to use your Republic Wireless number as your public phone number but still want to get the benefits of GV voicemail (transcribed messages, forever storage) you can activate GV voicemail on your phone. The Republic Wireless Community has a page with accurate instructionsimages for this. # Open the Republic app. # Tap Republic on the top left corner to access the app's menu. # Tap Settings. # Under Voicemail, tap Voicemail forwarding. # Enter your Google Voice number. If you want to use your Republic Wireless number as your public phone number but still want to get the benefits of GV voicemail (transcribed messages, forever storage) you can activate GV voicemail on your phone. Set up your voicemail greetings at the GV site.